Is Workplace EQ More Important than IQ?

A new survey executed by CareerBuilder released information stating “71 percent of employers say they value Emotional Intelligence over IQ.”

This rising trend of placing such a huge emphasis on Emotional Intelligence, particularly in the workplace, is something that has been gaining momentum for some time now. The term Emotional Intelligence or sometimes better known as EQ, became monumental in the 1990s thanks to Daniel Goleman’s book; Emotional Intelligence, but the concepts that are the foundations of EQ have existed for decades, often called “social intelligence” or simply “interpersonal skills.” Employers have been paying increasing amounts of attention to how EQ benefits the workplace environment, and as a result of observations and numerous studies released on the importance of EQ, employers are beginning to shift their focus from IQ to EQ.

The survey was conducted in August of 2011 and measured responses from over 2,600 hiring managers and human resource professionals from across the nation. The survey revealed:

“34% of hiring managers said they are placing greater emphasis on emotional intelligence when hiring and promoting employees post-recession”

“71% said they value emotional intelligence in an employee more than IQ”

“59 percent of employers would not hire someone who has a high IQ but low EQ”

“75 percent are more likely to promote an employee with a high EQ over one with a high IQ”

Now, this data doesn’t mean; college students, throw out your text books because grades don’t matter. You still need to have a desired skill-set to get you to the places you want to go, but EQ gives you the ability to rise above and become a star within those places, which IQ does not. According to a blog written by Daniel Goleman “IQ stands as a proxy for the cognitive complexity a person can process, it should predict what technical expertise that person can master. Technical expertise, in turn, represents the major set of threshold competencies that determine whether a person can get and keep a job in a given field.” With this said Goleman makes the argument that “emotional and social skills give people advantages in realms where such abilities make the most difference, like love and leadership. EQ trumps IQ in “soft” domains, where intellect matters relatively little for success. Another such arena where EQ matters more than IQ is in performance at work, when comparing people with roughly the same educational backgrounds…”

But if theory simply isn’t enough for you, survey participants gave the following reasons, based on their observations in the workplace, as to why they place a higher value on EQ versus IQ

“Employees with high EQ are more likely to stay calm under pressure”

“They know how to solve conflict effectively”

“They are empathetic to their team members and react accordingly”

“They lead by example”

“They tend to make more thoughtful business decisions.”

TRACOM’s Dr. Casey Mulqueen says “Evidence on the personal and professional benefits of EQ is becoming clearer and overwhelming, and employers are recognizing this through their hiring and promotion practices. What matters now is for people to learn about EQ and start practicing it. Many of us have spent our entire academic and professional lives honing our intellects and technical abilities. Unfortunately this has been at the expense of our emotional intelligence. Just as people have dedicated practice and effort to their educations and careers, they can do the same with EQ. Small daily changes will turn into well-learned habits, with practice. And this will help people move to the next level in their careers and personal lives.”

TRACOM offers resources to improve how you outwardly express your EQ, through Behavioral Emotional Intelligence. Such resources include our free BEQ Tip of the Week and the recently published BEQ Applications Guide, along with much more.

About Sean Essex

Sean is part of TRACOM's marketing team and a frequent blog contributor. He has worked with companies including Accenture, Oracle, Apple and IBM. His writing has been published in Talent Management and Chief Learning Officer magazines. Outside of work, Sean can be found on the tennis court or at rock concerts.